E/CN.4/2002/97 page 7 9. Further signs of continuing interest by the United Nations in the problematic of indigenous peoples are the establishment by the Economic and Social Council of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (to meet for the first time in May 2002), and the appointment by the Commission of a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people (2001). OHCHR and other United Nations bodies have also organized numerous consultations, workshops and other events concerning this topic. In 1993, the General Assembly requested United Nations financial institutions, operational programmes and specialized agencies, to give increased priority and resources to improving the conditions of indigenous people. The Special Rapporteur will maintain close relations with these bodies to ensure complementarity in the United Nations work on this mandate. 10. This introduction will briefly review the principal texts concerning indigenous peoples that have been produced by the United Nations system and other multilateral institutions, mainly in order to sketch out various international human rights standards that specifically address the rights of indigenous peoples, which are, in turn, the basis for the Special Rapporteur’s mandate. A. Legally binding instruments concerning indigenous peoples 1. ILO Convention No. 169 (1989) 11. The International Labour Organization showed an early interest in the situation of indigenous peoples. In 1957 the ILO adopted Convention No. 107 on indigenous and tribal populations in independent countries. Some 30 years later, recognizing that the international environment for indigenous peoples had changed, the ILO proceeded to review Convention No. 107 and in 1989 the General Conference adopted the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, better known as “Convention 169”, which entered into force in 1991. Convention 169 has now been ratified by 14 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Norway, Netherlands, Paraguay and Peru.1 12. Convention 169 deals, among other aspects, with the right to possession of land and territories traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples, the recognition of their cultural, social and religious values, custom-based law, the right to health services, and the right to benefit from equal conditions of employment. Complaint procedures are handled by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and a tripartite committee, to which indigenous individuals and organizations have indirect access through the ILO tripartite structure. Two interrelated themes have arisen repeatedly, both in the comments of the Committee of Experts and in the reports of tripartite committees established to examine representations brought against States under article 24 of the ILO Constitution. These are the duty of States to consult with indigenous and tribal peoples when consideration is being given to legislative or administrative measures that affect them, and the same duty of consultation prior to the exploration or exploitation of natural resources on the lands they occupy or use. In its report submitted to the International Labour Conference in 1999, the ILO Committee of Experts observed that Convention No. 169 was the most comprehensive instrument of international law for the protection in law and in practice of the right of indigenous and tribal peoples to preserve their own laws and customs within the national societies in which they lived.2 The Convention